HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



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VELVET DUCK. 



which the female closely covers with her elastic feather. 

 The young are attended by the female only, who 

 remains with her brood in these seclusions until they 

 are nearly ready to fly. She also makes a show of 

 defending them, and the young themselves often by 

 their great alertness in diving escape the attacks of 

 their enemies. They are abundant in the Orkneys 

 and Hebrides, as well as in Norway, Sweden and Lap- 

 land; and are common in some parts of Sibtria and 

 Kamtschatka. Near Kengis, on the banks of the 

 Tornea in Lapland, a little beyond the 67th parallel, 

 Skioldebrand remarked them nesting in trees, particu- 

 larly pines, accompanied by the golden eye {Fuligula 

 elanglua). The inhabitants, he also adds, knowing the 



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